Hey everyone,

Havent been on her in a while, hope ur all well. Since I got a bit more time now, got an issue and just wondered if anyone else does.

I got a 99 TH advance, good nick, pretty good tires. Now the thing is, compared to other cars ive driven, the car doesnt feel very well planted on the road. In the wet, I barely touch the accelerator and the car goes ballistic. I know I need to do my shocks in the near future but they are still in good shape. In the wet the car is very skatey and doesnt inspire much confidence....I dont get it, we have 2 other cars with the same tyres dimension yet u can run it around a wet corner and it will stick like no worries. A few times now, in car park for example ill brake around a corner and the car will slide momentarily scaring the crap outta me. Anyone else same boat? Im running standard dimension alloy wheels, 15inch.

Hey everyone,

Havent been on her in a while, hope ur all well. Since I got a bit more time now, got an issue and just wondered if anyone else does.

I got a 99 TH advance, good nick, pretty good tires. Now the thing is, compared to other cars ive driven, the car doesnt feel very well planted on the road. In the wet, I barely touch the accelerator and the car goes ballistic. I know I need to do my shocks in the near future but they are still in good shape. In the wet the car is very skatey and doesnt inspire much confidence....I dont get it, we have 2 other cars with the same tyres dimension yet u can run it around a wet corner and it will stick like no worries. A few times now, in car park for example ill brake around a corner and the car will slide momentarily scaring the crap outta me. Anyone else same boat? Im running standard dimension alloy wheels, 15inch.

What's your rear tyre pressures? when you mean the car will slide, how does it slide? understeer or oversteer? If you've got understeer, it's the same as most of our cars as the power coming from the front wheels will induce more understeer than oversteer. If oversteer, then check your rear tyre treads, and pressure.

what are the other cars you're comparing the Magna to anyway? hope you're using cars with similar weights to compare. But even just RWD vs. FWD in cornering is different enough.

Well I inflate the front to 32psi and the back tyres to 34 psi...Sound right? suggest otherwise....

Well like in the local car park for example, the concrete is slippery type but say im turning a sharp left, the car will continue straight and not turn at all, even with the wheels turned.

Also, say im driving on a bend going right at 70km/h, the rear will come out and the back will start to move sharply to the left. Happened a few times and the thing is the car gives u no sign, just snap all of a sudden.

Well im comparing this to dads E280 Merc, RWD so I guess thats not a good comparison. Just that his car has exactly the same tyre dimension as mine.... U can rip the car in straight line in the wet and it wont spin and around a corner the car tracks a steady line and doesnt deviate from it. When it does, the car gives u warning signs telling u 2 get back off.

[QUOTE=FiveFourV8]Well I inflate the front to 32psi and the back tyres to 34 psi...Sound right? suggest otherwise....QUOTE]

NO... it doesn't sound right at all - where'd you get these figures from? Look on the tyre pressure plate in the driver's side door arch. Oh yeah, and the brand and condition of the tyres?

Ermmm number one.. the front tyres need a higher PSI than the rear...

What tyres is the car using? Some makes are VERY bad in the wet..

As for the Ballistic part.. with FWD cars, traction loss is common..

Another reason could be the rear shockers giving up and causing your car to bounce backwards on take off and tranferring the weight back and pushing less weight to the front tyres.. again, that is the nature of FWD cars,

car won't grip the road ???? two suggestions, check wheel alignment and check tyre type/compounds/tread (are they too hard or bald)

when mine was stock, it would light up everywhere, then i put 17x7s with 225/50s and that made a fair difference, then lowered it, and added strut brace and now its actually quite difficult to get them to spin at all unless its turning or in the wet

your tyres may look fine and not have done many K's, but when tyres get old they go hard. think about those kids ride-on toys with plastic wheels, thats the slippery result you get from hard tyres. 32psi sounds too low, i would recommend 36 all round. if you get mags and lower profile tyres then you would keep them even higher. that's the only problem that i can think of, but then again im not a mechanic

Comparing the traction and stability to a Merc E280 is no comparision at all. The E280 would most definitely have traction control and stability control. You would be able to throw it everywhere and you'd still have control. (Except in extreme cases...hmm 140km/h on a rainy day :nuts: )


Well like in the local car park for example, the concrete is slippery type but say im turning a sharp left, the car will continue straight and not turn at all, even with the wheels turned.

That is an understeer, and is common to all FWD's. You'll just have to drive slower around corners to avoid this.

What rubber are you using anyway?

I agree with Asylum, it really depends on your car. I'm currently running really cheap tyres, but they are 225/50 with 80% tread. My car is lowered and the shocks are firm, so I don't get understeer that much, however the only time I got oversteer was when My rear tyre was at 37Psi and doing about 70km/h into a off camber left sweeper turn. Otherwise I don't get any bad understeering anymore. I used to though, with my F'ed up shocks.

P.S, I also have Strut brace, but no rear sway bar.

Hey.... Well the tyres arent that old at all. About 3 months old, they are kumhos all round not the best id say... But in excellent condition. Ill inflate them to 36 tonight and see the difference. Comapring to the E280 i know isnt fair but it doesnt have traction control or any aids like that, just ABS like the magna.

I used to have kumhos. Steal radials 711 pattern or something. They'd wheel spin really easy when taking off from the lights a mild amount of speed. With rain, I'd have to be really light on the pedal, otherwise it felt like i had 1000HP trying to make traction lol

I now have Yokahama A539's all round and they have better grip for sure. Driving in the wet no where near as bad either.

My guess is the tyre compound. I think a lot of cheaper tyres go for harder compounds in an effort to get greater mileage but to the detriment of traction, especially in the wet.

Also, try runnning higher pressure in the tyres either equal or slightly higher in the front.

Tyres have a life of 4 years, whether they're sitting on the shelf or on your car. Once they hit that time period, you should throw them out even if there's tread left.

Well pumped da tyres to 36 and its such a big diff no squealing around corners! its bumpier but id rather the trade off for better handling..much better....

With my old 65 profile tyres, same as you, I used to run 40psi cold to get decent handling. Ideally you would use a mechanical dial gauge + pump at home after the car has been parked overnight to get an accurate reading.

As soon as you drive to the servo, even if it's a couple of mins away, the tyres will heat up and give you an inconsistent reading. This is worsened by the fact that almost all the servo gauges I have tested are out by some degree (they don't bother to calibrate them which they should periodically, and if they are dropped on the ground). The worst case I found was about 5psi out.

36psi is probably towards the high end for a 15x205x65's pressure, these tyres are prone to rolling in the wall, cause its tall... which can make the car feel 'loose'...

i normally run my 15x215x60s at 34psi alround and it seems to be a good balance b/w ride and handling.... 32psi is not too low, i know people who run these sized tyres at 28-30psi with out any complaints and it increases tyre life at lower pressures!

Tyre compound is a big thing.... i changed from bridgestone RE92 (i think thats them) to a silica based Hankook K406 and they are miles better, especially in the wet!!!

36psi is probably towards the high end for a 15x205x65's pressure, these tyres are prone to rolling in the wall, cause its tall... which can make the car feel 'loose'...

i normally run my 15x215x60s at 34psi alround and it seems to be a good balance b/w ride and handling.... 32psi is not too low, i know people who run these sized tyres at 28-30psi with out any complaints and it increases tyre life at lower pressures!

Tyre compound is a big thing.... i changed from bridgestone RE92 (i think thats them) to a silica based Hankook K406 and they are miles better, especially in the wet!!!

Increase in tyre pressure would actually improve tyre wear rate, as a soft tyre not only wears faster along the outer edges, but the excessive sidewall roll causes heat buildup and faster wear of the tread. You don't want the pressure so high that the centre of the tread bears an unproportional weight though.

Check of tyre pressure and wear pattern should be done once a week regardless.

hey my car is doing the same thing. Tyres are new and pretty good in the wet, but my suspension (front and rear) is so f**ked that every time i plant it hard, even in the dry, all of the weight in the car transfers to the rear and from 4000rpm onwards the tyres spin.
Understeer? i only get that even in the wet if i'm pushing well too hard through a corner, and even then its reasonably predicatable. Easier to control than any falcodore.